The Abundant Grace of Jesus Christ14 [1Tim 1:12-20] / Anne's Faith Column

 

 

 

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The Abundant Grace

of Jesus Christ14

[1 Tim 1:12-20]

/ Anne's Faith Column 

 

/ By Priscilla

 

 

 

"The grace of our Lord

was poured out on me

    abundantly,

 

 

along with the faith

and love that are

in Christ Jesus."

   [1 Tim 1:14]

 

 

Throughout our lives,

there are many problems

that endlessly arise due to

our own flaws and the

strong will within us.

 

 

We feel embarrassed

each moment at the

'ego' that still lurks,

 

 

and comes out of

our inner being

without dying.

 

 

Whenever we feel this,

we should lay down

everything in life

before Jesus Christ,

 

 

but it's just embarrassing

that we are still conscious

of our egos, claiming

 

 

that our deeds are

right in everything.

 

 

The more this happens,

the more we feel whole

heartedly that we need to

bow down humbly

before the Lord.

 

 

Above all,

the apostle Paul

confessed that

  he was a sinner.

 

 

Nevertheless,

the Lord Jesus,

 

 

who once had been

persecuted by Paul,

gave him strength,

 

 

considered him faithful,

and appointed him to the

service of Himself.

 

 

The apostle Paul

thanked with all his heart

and soul and praised for

the abundant grace

and mercy of the Lord.

 

 

Paul encouraged Timothy,

his spiritual son to follow

the prophecies once

made about him,

 

 

and fight the good fight

in a good conscience,

holding on to faith

like himself.

 

 

Paul confessed like this:

"Christ Jesus came

into the world to save sinners

--of whom I am the worst."

 

 

And he made a testimony

that he was changed by

the abundant grace

of Christ Jesus

 

 

and realized His great

   love to himself,

the worst of sinners

with His unlimited

patience.

 

 

At this moment,

we must once again

look back on our

  own faith.

 

 

God searches for faithful,

God-fearing, and true

  worshipers on this earth.

 

 

But, there are times

when we have lack

 of fearing of God,

 

 

and our attitude as a true

worshiper becomes dull.

 

 

This is when the

religious crisis has come.

 

 

When we are in the

abundant grace of the Lord,

along with faith, we can

deny ourselves

 

 

and follow only the Lord

who atones for our sins.

 

 

We can look to

only the Lord,

not ourselves and

 the worldly.

 

 

But, when our fea

r of God disappears,

we turn to ourselves

and the worldly.

 

 

This is really a crisis of faith.

We must keep in mind

 

 

that our disloyal attitude

of worship sometimes

make serious trouble

 

 

even to the worshiping

community as well as

ourselves.

 

 

When we are being

  unfaithful to the Lord

since he is an invisible

  being.

 

 

What will he say to us

if he sees such an attitude?

 

 

If the Lord sees us, who

recognize what our religious

problems are but try

not to correct them,

 

 

I wonder what he will say

and how embarrassing

he will be.

 

 

Even though

we admit our lives

 are in God's control, 

 

 

we still act as if we

were the sovereigns

of our lives.

 

 

There are times we show

an attitude against the Lord.

 

 

Nevertheless,

he generously forgives us

who are still disobedient

to the Lord.

 

 

In Christ,

we are changed new

creations by his love.

 

 

Whenever we feel the

abundant grace of Jesus,

 

 

we can't help but, sob out

with his amazing love

like the apostle Paul.

 

 

Whenever we take one

step before the Lord,

 

 

we are so ashamed

how many sins would be

revealed before him.

 

 

In the Bible, the

 apostle Paul says:

 

 

"So I find this law at work:

When I want to do good,

evil is right there with me.

 

 

For in my inner being

 I delight in God's law;

 

 

but I see another law

at work in the members

  of my body, waging war

against the law of my

 mind and making me

 

 

a prisoner of the law of sin

at work within my members.

 

 

What a wretched man I am!

Who will rescue me from

this body of death?"

     (Rom 7:21-24)

 

 

Paul lamented so

heartbreakingly for

 his weakness,

that is, human

weakness.

 

 

He showed it under

all the world.

 

 

Also, we cannot deny

that this confession

 is our own.

 

 

How can we judge others

without recognizing

 ourselves properly?

 

 

Jesus, who knows

the source of problems

we can not solve

for ourselves,

 

 

sympathized our

human weakness

 

 

and came to this world

to save us with the

 Incarnation of God.

 

 

What an amazing grace

of Christ Jesus!

 

 

He redeemed us from sins,

and carried the great

burden of sins on

behalf of us,

 

 

and in our place

he was bound.

 

 

He moved us from

death to life

- How grateful this is!

 

 

We've received great grace

without price from the

sacrifice of the Lord

 

 

and have become

'debtors of love'.

 

 

In our faith life,

I feel whole heartedly

how difficult, important

 

 

and precious to have the

awake consciousness it is.

 

 

In fact, we know that

being gradually aware

of this is in itself the

progress of faith

 

 

and the process of

growing faith one

step further.

 

 

When thinking

about Jesus

 

 

who embraces us

and comes to me

with abundant grace,

 

 

there is something

we need to think about:

 

 

Without the Lord's

permission,

how can we condemn

others carelessly?

 

 

And also why can't

we forgive others?

 

 

If we realize that

we are forgiven sinners,

how do we rebuke others?

 

 

And who can I not forgive?

 

 

Therefore once again

we should establish

our attitude of faith.

 

 

And in order to escape

from the religious crisis

that we might face,

 

 

we should ask him

to clothe us with the

power of the Lord

 

 

and become a dynamic

and powerful believer.

 

 

Prayer

 

 

Lord!

We put our ego down

in front of you,

being obedient

 

 

and bowing down

humbly before you.

 And we look to you,

 

 

O Lord Almighty

and your Almighty hand.

 

 

Please correct the

 wrong habits of w orshiping

in our lives of faith

 

 

and condemning

and criticizing others

for their faults.

 

 

Please guide us into

the correct way of

Christian life. 

 

 

Amen

 

2009/04/30  

 

 

/ By Priscilla